Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1887-11-04
Anarchists Before the Supreme
Court. lease Closed.

Anarchists Before the Supreme
Court.--CaSe Closed.
GEN. BUTLER PLEADS FOR THE WRIT.
Gen. Butler said that he would
state the points of contention, and if
he stated them wrongly he wanted t.
be corrected "by any gsnrleman whD
did not advocate the right to steal
men and to steal their papers" AT
ter describing what happened pre-
vious to the HaymarGet meeting he
said
"At that meeting a bomb was
throwa by somebody for some pur-
pose, and there is not one word in
these 5000 pages of evidence to show
that any one of these men had any.
thing TO do with throwing that bomb
There We're but two of these men
within miles of that meeting, and one
had his wife and two little children
in the very place almost where the
bomb was lighted. Its explosion
killed single policeman and within
few days all of these men were ar
rested without q warrant, committed
to Jail and held there without exam
ination and without process until they
were indicted by grand jury. And
to describe simple crime, if crime it
was, the States Attorney had to
draw an indictment of sixty-nine
counts. During the trial the Judge
allowed questions to be asked with
regard to conspiracy, although in
all the sixty-nine counts of the indict-
ment there was no conspiracy alleged.
He said that he was ready to pledge
himself that there was not single
man of the jury selected who had not
said that he had 6rm-and some of
them an enthusiastic - conviction,
opinion and prejudice against the de.
feDdants.
After great deal of rambling talk
about the composition of the jury, dis.
satisfaction with the record, lack of
time for preparation, the sentencing
of the prisoners in their presence and
that Of tEeir counsel, the injustice
done them by unreasonable search
and SEIZURE" etc. Gen Butler said
that if all these things could be done,
"the question was to be debated
whether that Government would not
be little better if it were overturned
into anarchy than if it were to be car
ried on in this fashion"
Il have no fear" he said, "of being
misunderstood upon this question. l
haye the individuality of being the
only man in the United States that
condemned and executed men for un-
dertakiog to over;urn the law There
were thousands of them And for
that act, please your Honors, price
was set upon my head as though |
were q wolf, and $25 900 was offered
to any man that could capture NE, to
murder me, by jefferson Davis and
his associates, and who, if they were
here at your bar, trying to ascertain
whether they should have an honest
and fair trial for their great crimes,
and they called upon me-their lives
in danger-I should hold it to be my
duty to stand here and do all that l
might to defend them That is the
chivalry OF the law, if understand it,
and if | don't it is not of much conse-
quence, for | am quite easily and
quickly passing away"
After some further talk, Gen. But
Ter said he agreed fully that the first
ten amendments of the Constitution
were limitations of Federal power
and not restrictions of the rights of
the States. The privileges and i'm
munities," however, claimed by these
prisoners. We're privileges inherent in
each one of the citizens of the several
States of the United States, because
in vast majority we were British SUBJ
iects and had certain privileges and
immunities Inherited under the COM
mon lew and Magma Charta, and
among them, and the most thorough
ly known and defined, were the trial
by jury for all high crimes, exemp-
tion for search and seizure without
warrant of law, protection from SELF
accusation when witness, and not
to be deprived of life, liberty or prop
erty without due process of law. We
claim that all the rights, privileges
and immunities that belong to a
British subject under Magma Charta
belong to each citizen of the United
State, and that as new citizens of the
United States were made, not citizens
of States, by naturalization, these
rights, privileges and immunities
came to them as citizens of the
United States. The effect of the
Fourteenth amendn It was to guar
antee these rights, privileges and i'm
, muu tiles to the citizens of oil the
States,
The words "due process of law" as
contained in the Fourteenth amend
meet, and as used TO define one OF
these guaranteed rights, mean by
the law of the land.n not the law of q
county. province, or State, but
the law of the couutry-the whole
country. That is the law Of the land
and was so understood by our forefath-
ers as due process of law. Any other
meaning given to "due process"
of law as it is used in the Fourteenth
amendment would make it simply
ridiculous and frivolous, because any
State may enact a "due process of
law"according to that State by which
a mans life may be taken, and from
which not single right or immun-
ity of citizenship can protect him.
Any law State may make after the
passage of this amendment for deal
ing with the rights of citizen of the
United States becomes wholly mop.